how do I improve coral growth. A beyound the basic's question

ddc0715 · Dec 8, 2022

ok stablity (alk,8.5-9 ca 450-475, mg 1275-1325,ph 8.3-8.6, no3 10-15, phos 0.00-0.02,sal .024-.026, etc) in my tank has been reached. IMO for some time now. i have two 4k gryes, 2 qd mp 40's, two apex 9x lights (6-8" above the water line) and in a 4' x 24" x 31" deep tank

I have been trying to flat line a few parameters but have yet to achive that...... im wanting to take coral growth to the next level? im already dosing acro power and phyto. im really bothered by the fact that people have 1-2 year old tanks that are double in size to my 4-5 year old tank i dont understand that.. advice wanted on improving/boosting coral growth. here is a 1year time lapse of one acro. cross posted in brs on FB

Dburr1014 · Dec 8, 2022

What parameters give you trouble?
Lighting and flow?

ddc0715 · Dec 8, 2022

i updated the og post but i have two 4k gryes, 2 qd mp 40's, two apex 9x lights (6-8" above the water line) and in a 4 x 24" x 31" deep tank. no bleaching has ever happened knock on wood... im not sure if its one W parm or the other.

homer1475 · Dec 8, 2022

Looks like fine growth to me. Some corals just grow slower then others.

Take for instance my walt disney, hasn't moved a inch in a year, but my BC mrs scarlet has been fragged many times.

EDIT:
0.00 to 0.02 phosphates is literally starving your corals(depending on test kit being used, that 0.02 could still be 0). Raise that up to around .1 and I think you'll see some better growth.

Dburr1014 · Dec 8, 2022

Flow looks good, do you know actual par?

I do agree po4 needs to be more. I was 0.1/.08 but now more like 0.06.
It may or may not add growth but it will keep you above the hairy edge of zero.

Funny about this thread cuz I can go weeks seeing some growth but last night a looked at my green slimmer and it looked like it grew an inch in 1 day. Sometimes it's in spurts.

ninjamyst · Dec 8, 2022

I echo the low PO4 concern. How are other corals growing? LPS, softies, and other SPS.

horseplay · Dec 8, 2022

Some corals grow slower than others. Do you have any known fast growing corals like green slimer, birdnest and caps?

bushdoc · Dec 8, 2022

david campbell said:
ok stablity (alk,8.5-9 ca 450-475, mg 1275-1325,ph 8.3-8.6, no3 10-15, phos 0.00-0.02,sal .024-.026, etc) in my tank has been reached. IMO for some time now. i have two 4k gryes, 2 qd mp 40's, two apex 9x lights (6-8" above the water line) and in a 4' x 24" x 31" deep tank

I have been trying to flat line a few parameters but have yet to achive that...... im wanting to take coral growth to the next level? im already dosing acro power and phyto. im really bothered by the fact that people have 1-2 year old tanks that are double in size to my 4-5 year old tank i dont understand that.. advice wanted on improving/boosting coral growth. here is a 1year time lapse of one acro. cross posted in brs on FB

When you find your Holy Grail let me know, I would like to find mine too.
But now seriously, it seems to me that you have everything set up and controlled like it should be. Have you considered ICP test?
In well established tanks water changes may not keep up with trace elements consumption by corals. ICP could give you possibly some answers.

ddc0715 · Dec 8, 2022

caps sps does really well. caps digi etc.its a mixed reef. the coral on the anchor ( name eludes me) is as old as the 2nd coral directly to its right both bought at the same time. I had high phos last or early this year .5-.9 so I reducing my feeding to 5 pellets to 5 fish, once eaten 5 more pellets went in and so on until they stopped.. i use ulr hanna for my phos and no3. trident for the others

prcardinal91 · Dec 8, 2022

I second running an ICP. It will help you be aware of what might be lacking in your tank.

Do you have a ph probe? If so when was it calibrated last? Ph of 8.3 to 8.6 would be hard to achieve without adding something to boost it.

What are you dosing to keep up with Ca, Alk, and Mg?

homer1475 · Dec 8, 2022

Tank looks awesome to me to be quite honest.

Why chase what doesn't need to be chased? I would still up the PO4 a bit though. I personally don't like riding that razor edge.

prcardinal91 · Dec 8, 2022

I have been using Reef Moonshiners method with 2 part dosing and Kalk to boost PH

This is my tank growth in 1 year.

david campbell said:
ok stablity (alk,8.5-9 ca 450-475, mg 1275-1325,ph 8.3-8.6, no3 10-15, phos 0.00-0.02,sal .024-.026, etc) in my tank has been reached. IMO for some time now. i have two 4k gryes, 2 qd mp 40's, two apex 9x lights (6-8" above the water line) and in a 4' x 24" x 31" deep tank

I have been trying to flat line a few parameters but have yet to achive that...... im wanting to take coral growth to the next level? im already dosing acro power and phyto. im really bothered by the fact that people have 1-2 year old tanks that are double in size to my 4-5 year old tank i dont understand that.. advice wanted on improving/boosting coral growth. here is a 1year time lapse of one acro. cross posted in brs on FB

ddc0715 · Dec 8, 2022

thanks for the compliments. i too love it and it has been doing well and im very happy.I'm not chasing to be chasing. but when I see people post 2 yr old tanks that look like the barrier reef. I'm like..

yes to a ph probe. I have a fully loaded apex with four dos pumps and so on. ph is high because. (imo) I run an over sized recirculating skimmer with a monster size (hold 5 lbs of media) scrubber. scrubbing and pulling outside air.

mg is dosed manually because it is Soo slow to deplete. as for alk, ca, I use kalkwasser. which is auto dosed at 4000mls daily over 24 hrs. I have a 20 gallon kalk container. I also dose soda ash and ca via a dos,when I have to mix up a new batch of kalk that takes about 2 days personal choice on settle time.

the last icp test I used triton lab it did not really tell me the entire picture. it's been awhile. but I remember asking my self.. where is this wp In the results. is there a better brand.

I to was wondering about trace elements as an add

Duffer · Dec 8, 2022

mag could be higher,mine like mag around 1400-1425..

i was trying everything under the bus including amino acids and nothing seemed to work until i started dosing trace elements. I did a few icp tests and they were showing low trace elements...as soon as i dosed trace elements my corals took off...

Midrats · Dec 8, 2022

Pappone (means pimp in Italian, but it's coral food) and HGH.

ninjamyst · Dec 8, 2022

Duffer said:
mag could be higher,mine like mag around 1400-1425..

i was trying everything under the bus including amino acids and nothing seemed to work until i started dosing trace elements. I did a few icp tests and they were showing low trace elements...as soon as i dosed trace elements my corals took off...

Interesting. Aren't trace elements replenish with 2 parts?

bnord · Dec 8, 2022

So on the other hand, even with low phosphates, the coral looks great, super color,

I shared the same growth any frustration until I let the phosphates run a little, seems better growth on my across now

and just to highlight the challenge with balance, the once robust euphlyia in that tank are now pinching and dying -

ReefAddict16 · Dec 8, 2022

You can try fragging it and moving into a higher light spot. This could also trigger the original coral to repair itself and spur some growth.

ReefAddict16 · Dec 8, 2022

Also too clean of water can cause this (depends on the coral). Some acros prefer “dirty” water and others don’t. I think this is the reason WWC feeds every hour.